


Fic Commission for Emilia

by Emma_Trevelyan



Series: Emma's Fic Commissions [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cat allergy, Comfort, F/M, Female Reader, Fluff, Mild Angst, Reader Insert, relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 08:39:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16281257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emma_Trevelyan/pseuds/Emma_Trevelyan
Summary: Kenma hates that he can't help sometimes, but that's not going to stop him from trying





	Fic Commission for Emilia

Kenma had known her since middle school, but he didn’t start liking her until high school. As slowly and gradually as he’d fallen for her, he’d learned so many things that he loved about her. 

He loved her smile. She was so sweet and bubbly and optimistic. On good days, she was a bucket of rainbows and sunshine. Her happiness and care was like a balm most days, and Kenma sometimes wished he could keep her laugh in a jar for days when he couldn’t see her. It always warmed his heart to hear. But, unlike most sunshine-rainbow-bucket people, it wasn’t overwhelming or saccharine. It was genuine. It was a sweetness that could sustain him. That he needed to survive. 

He loved her respect for his boundaries. So many people in his life just didn’t understand the concept of social exhaustion and were just… a lot. He needed his alone time. Only a select group of people didn’t drain his social battery--basically Kuroo, Akaashi, and Shoyou--and everyone else, he needed a break. She respected that. She understood his need for solitude once in a while--especially during breaks in the school day--so she left him alone. She’d swoop in, give him his daily dose of sunshine, and swoop out. It continued like that, until he informed her that “she didn’t count as people.” 

He loved that she understood what that meant. And after that, he saw her a lot more. Sadly, she was kind of allergic to his mom’s cat, so he had to go to her place more often than not, but it was OK. Not to mention that, as long as he kept Ekubo out of his room, she was OK. 

One thing he loved about her, even if it sometimes frustrated him, was her mile-wide stubborn streak. Because she was  _ stubborn.  _ All through high school and most of college, she wanted a cat. She did her research, visited cat cafes, did tests… all in service of finding a cat that was a nice balance between her allergies and good temperament. But once she started having reactions to Kuroo’s cat, Gumball (who was by far the least allergenic cat Kenma had ever met, despite her fluff) Kenma knew she had to get serious. 

Then, she adopted two cats. 

Damn her bleeding heart, because Kenma was certain it was going to end badly. He even said something to that effect when she got them, but that high key did not go well. Her stubborn streak turned on him viciously, and they didn’t speak for a full four days. When he couldn’t take it anymore, they started texting again, and after words were exchanged, things went back to normal. 

At first, it wasn’t so bad. 

She took a daily allergy pill, and that seemed ok. The cats were immensely cute, and Kenma liked coming over to play with them and cuddle them. One of them was chill and more than willing to curl up in Kenma’s lap while he pounded away at Monster Hunter for hours on end. The other was… less so. He went after strings with gusto, eviscerated mouse toys, stole chopsticks, chewed plants, climbed into the trash and screamed when he got stuck, climbed onto the stove hood and dive bombed unsuspecting victims, and viciously attacked any insect or insect-like dust bunny that crossed his path. They were an interesting contrast to say the least. 

Problem was her allergies. It went beyond a stuffy nose every now and again. She was severely allergic, and it was more than a regular dusting and an allergy pill could fix. Her eyes swelled up, she had trouble breathing, she woke in the night choking, she went through tissues like they were going out of style… it was a mess. She was miserable, losing sleep, gasping for air at all times… She tried everything, and Kenma was willing to help. They vacuumed regularly, changed fabrics, did laundry, banned the cats from the bedroom, changed her allergy pill… nothing worked. 

“____,” Kenma said one afternoon after a particularly nasty coughing fit. “I don’t think this is working.” 

“I can make this work!” She remained so stubborn… 

“Please, you’re miserable,” Kenma replied, pleading her name. “I know you want to take care of them, but see reason!”

“I am seeing reason, and if I don’t take care of them, no one else will!” 

Kenma scowled; “That’s not true. You have friends that can take them in, or your mom… hell, I can call my mom, or Kuroo might take them! But you can’t live with cats!” 

It sparked a huge fight. Eventually, their impassioned yelling was too much on Kenma’s nerves, and he stormed out without settling anything. To be hurtful, he grumbled that it was ‘too much effort’ before he stalked home. 

He didn’t expect to hear from her for a while, if ever. She tended to go off the grid when she got down. It was another thing that Kenma loved, even when it frustrated him. So, when he got a text from her four days later, he knew he needed to see her. 

_ Come over when you can. _

He recognized the tone of her text. It… wasn’t good. He sighed, shoving his game system into his pocket, jamming on his shoes, and shuffling to the convenience store on the way to her house. He pulled all her favorite snacks--her favorite chips, her favorite sweets, and a drink she liked, along with a melon pan that never disappointed. He also got chicken, because something told him they wouldn’t get getting dinner. 

He knew something was up as soon as he walked through the door. All the windows had been thrown open. The cat toys and dishes were gone. The smell of litter remained, and would likely linger, but the boxes and little marbles of litter the cats tracked around the apartment were gone. The air smelled a little cleaner, didn’t have that haze on it that all houses with cats had. There was no tell tale scraping of claws across wood and linoleum or screaming from the trash can, no chirps to greet him at the door… the cats were gone. 

She sat on her couch, curled into a miserable ball, wiping tears from her eyes. She looked like she’d been crying for a long time, and she had that drained look of someone at their emotional limit. Still, despite that, she looked better. Her face was less puffy, and her nose wasn’t running anymore. At least, not from an allergic reaction, anyway. 

“____? You ok?” Kenma asked, setting himself down on the couch next to her. 

She shrugged; “No. Not really.” 

He put a hand between her shoulder blades, rubbing a soothing circle against her back. He knew she would talk when she was ready. He sucked at this sort of thing--he liked it better when she was happy, but then who wouldn’t, when it came to their girlfriend--but he knew better than anyone that this was just… a part of being human. So he would wait. Patiently. She’d come out of her shell eventually, and when that dam broke, he wanted to be there for her. 

“I had to give them away,” she said quietly. 

“The cats?” Kenma asked. “That’s good. I know it hurts right now, but it’s good.” 

“No,” she said, wiping her freshly-fallen tears. “No it’s not. It sucks. I failed. I failed my friend. I failed the cats. Now they might never find homes!” 

“They are good cats, they’ll find homes,” Kenma said, pulling her in for a one-armed hug. “You had to do it, ____. You were miserable.” 

“How selfish am I?” She stiffened in his arms, but she didn’t pull away from him. “How selfish am I that I just… took in these animals and then  _ failed them _ .” 

“You’re not selfish,” Kenma said evenly, but emphatically. “You’re not selfish for caring about your health, ____.” 

“It’s just an allergy. It wasn’t going to kill me.” 

“It could have,” Kenma growled. He was getting increasingly frustrated. “Look, I know it was important to you to take care of them. I know you like cats and you want cats, but you can’t! You’re  _ allergic _ , ____. And look, maybe you’ll find a less allergenic cat down the line, but you couldn’t take care of them the way you are! You couldn’t even  _ breathe _ .” 

“But--”

“ _ No buts. _ Look, I’m allergic to shellfish, right?” Kenma narrowed his eyes, turning her logic around on her. 

“Yes… what does that have--” She tilted her head in askance, but he cut her off. 

“So I can’t eat shellfish,” Kenma continued. “If someone makes me shellfish, and I refuse to eat it, does that make me rude or mean?” 

“No! Kenma, it’s not the same thing,” she insisted. 

“But it  _ is _ the same thing,” he said. “You are severely allergic to those cats. Hey, maybe you’ll get desensitized and then someday, maybe, you can own cats, but right now, it’s not right. Those cats needed a home where the owner could really take care of them. Steve was a cuddle monster, and Baku could not be contained. Do you  _ really _ think it was for the best that they stay with an owner who can’t even be around them without nearly having an asthma attack?” 

She bit her lip; “I shouldn’t have taken them in the first place.” 

Kenma shrugged; “Maybe. It’s too late to be thinking about that now, though. It’s done.” 

“Those poor kitties--” She started to go back down a self-loathing trail, and Kenma had to stop her. 

“Are with your friend again, right?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” she said with a shrug. 

“Good. That means they might find a home that will  _ really _ be able to take care of them. Maybe with enough room for a cat tower for Baku. That cat, I swear…” 

“He was sweet,” she said, a hint of a smile at the corner of her lips. 

“He was the devil,” Kenma retorted. “He would puff up at his own reflection and attack shadows. I think there’s still an eviscerated house plant with his name on it.”

“At least he could stay fit,” she sighed wistfully. “Steve was  _ so fat _ .” 

“Steve was very fat, but that was only because I wouldn’t stop sneaking him pudding,” Kenma admited. “And cheese.”

“ _ Kenma! _ ” She sounded so scanalized, he had to laugh. Thankfully, it was catching, and she laughed right along with him. She leaned more heavily into his side, staring at the scuff on the wall where Baku had gotten stuck in some furniture and caused collateral damage getting out. “I’m going to miss them.” 

“I know,” he said, rubbing her arm soothingly. “I’m going to miss them, too. But what you did… it’s for the best. I promise.” 

“I know,” she said. “I  _ know _ . I feel stupid.” 

“You’re allowed to be sad,” he said. “It sucks a lot. But I’m going to be right here, ok? And you can talk to me if you want to. Or I can kick your ass at Mario Kart. It’s up to you.” 

“What makes you think you’ll win at Mario Kart?” She quirked her brow at him in challenge. 

“It’s not so much I think I’ll win,” he said. “It’s more a foregone conclusion.” 

“Alright, that’s it,” she grumbled. “You and me. Right now. Let’s go.” 

They had their pile of snacks. Their unhealthy dinner. Their video games. They had their dynamic that had been intact for years, that had served them well and built a rapport and a level of trust that Kenma only had with a few people in his life. He hated to see her suffer. He hated that she was so upset, but at the same time, he was happy she’d be healthy again. It was complicated. 

What wasn’t complicated were his feelings for her. Of them, he was quite sure. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you are interested in commissioning me, my rules and pricing is [here](http://hq-cuties-pls.tumblr.com/post/175869994974/admin-emmas-fic-commissions)  
> If you don't want a commission but still want to support me, [here](https://ko-fi.com/A1332O8Z) is my ko-fi
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!!!


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